ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming review

Why is ASUS RTX so expensive? Experience 2X the throughput of 1st gen RT Cores, plus concurrent RT and shading for a whole new level of ray tracing performance. Now with support for up to 8K resolution, these cores deliver a massive boost in game performance and all-new AI capabilities. Find details in ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming review.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Good performance at all the way up to 4K
• Sturdy looking design with a mix of plastic and metal
• Newly redesigned shroud looks amazing, but might be polarizing to long-time ROG fans
• ARGB lighting on the side looks great in standard GPU installations
• Power LED warning system is nifty for troubleshooting

Cons

• Runs rather warm
• Draws more power than most of the RTX 3080 cards in the market
• Fans are audible at stock
• Relatively low boost clocks despite high boost clocks from the factory

Specs – ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming

• Shader cores: 8704
• GPU: GA102
• Core clock: 1440MHz
• Boost clock: 1935MHz
• Memory clock: 19Gbps
• Memory bandwidth: 760GB/s
• Memory: 10GB GDDR6X
• 320-bit bus width
• Architecture: Ampere
• TDP: 320W
• RT cores: 68
• Tensor cores: 272
• Transistors: 28.3 billion
• Node: Samsung 8nm
• Ports: 2 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Power connector: 3x 8-pin PCIe

Price

The silicon shortage and crypto mining demand are still making it difficult to locate stock at reasonable prices. This ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 is no different. The MSRP is $850, and you should not fork out more than $1,000 at the very most if you really need one now.

Compare ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming

ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming review

Design

Dimensions of the ASUS ROG Strix are 32.5 x 14.5 cm, and it weighs 1783 g. The card has three 8-pin power inputs. This configuration is rated for up to 525 W of power draw.

Ports

We have the usual 3 x DP 1.4 ports on the I/O side of things, but we also have an additional — so 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports for ultra-fast 4K 120Hz and ultra-high-res 8K 60Hz TVs.

Frame rates

At both 1440p and 4K, you’ll encounter no issues playing the latest and most demanding PC games. The GPU scored high in benchmarks and other synthetic tests and temperatures were well within acceptable ranges (never really surpassing 70C) when under load. Overall, this is some serious performance at a good price.

Temperature

ASUS has the coolest graphics card on my charts with the ROG Strix RTX 3080 OC Edition, where it runs at a super-cool 65C — under the already impressive (and faster) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition which runs at 67C. Compare this to the 79C that the RTX 3080 FE runs at, and the ASUS is chill AF.

The card peaked at 66°C in F1 2020 at stock speeds and 68°C when overclocked. The fans started spinning above 55°C and were quiet throughout testing.

Cooling

Two fan headers near the back of the card can be used to connect case fans to the graphics card. These fans will now run in sync with the graphics card fans—stopped when idle and at increasing speed depending on the GPU temperature. Since the graphics card is the primary heat source in most computers, this makes a lot of sense and keeps noise levels down.

Power consumption

The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 OC Edition inside of my Intel Core i7-8700K test bed consumes 470W in total under load, or up to 510W when overclocked and the power limits are unleashed. It uses 40W more power over the RTX 3080 FE and 30W more power over the RTX 3090 FE.

Overclocking

the RTX 3080 from ASUS is able to boost far higher at 1935MHz instead of 1710MHz. This results in overall better performance, allowed by those three large fans on the 2.9 slot GPU. You also get all the usual specs with the NVIDIA RTX 3080, including 8,704 CUDA cores, 68 Ray Tracing cores, and 272 Tensor cores.

Alternate of ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition gaming

Best AMD alternative for 4K or HFR: Radeon RX 5700 XT

The RX 5700 XT is the top Radeon card on the market, following the departure of the short-lived Radeon 7. This GPU performs well at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K gaming is also in reach if you’re willing to accept a few compromises in the settings menu. One nice feature of the RX 5700 XT is that it’s based on a more advanced 7nm process than AMD’s previous 14nm cards or Nvidia’s existing 12nm lineup, which translates into better energy efficiency and less heat generation – a big improvement over AMD’s historically hot and power-hungry flagships.

The RX 5700 XT includes support for the latest AMD software features, including Radeon Image Sharpening (a filter that makes edges in an image more noticeable) and Radeon Anti-Lag (a feature that synchronises CPU and GPU to minimise input lag in DX9, DX11 and Vulkan titles). However, there’s no support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is set to become more popular in 2020 as both next-gen consoles will ship with the feature.

Pros:

• Strong gaming performance, particularly in DX12 and Vulkan titles
• Cooler and more power-efficient than previous Radeon cards
• Provides access to the latest Radeon software features

Cons:

• Performance in DX11 games, especially at 1080p and 1440p, leaves a lot to be desired
• No support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing or variable rate shading

Editor’s recommendations

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